# List of fantasy films of the 1980s

A list of fantasy films released in the 1980s.

## List

* 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
| Title | Director | Cast | Country | Notes |
| 1980 |||||
| Return of the King | Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Orson Bean, John Huston, Roddy McDowall | United States | Television movie, Animated film |
| Xanadu | Robert Greenwald | Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, Michael Beck, Sandahl Bergman | United States | |
| Dumbrava minunată (film) [ro] | Gheorghe Naghi | Diana Muscă, Ernest Maftei, Elena Drăgoi | Romania | |
| Hawk the Slayer | Terry Marcel | Jack Palance, John Terry, Bernard Bresslaw, Patricia Quinn, W. Morgan Sheppard | United States United Kingdom | |
| 1981 |||||
| The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire | Nicholas Corea | Lane Caudell, Belinda Bauer, Victor Campos, Kabir Bedi, George Kennedy | United States | German: de:Der Zauberbogen |
| Clash of the Titans | Desmond Davis | Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, Ursula Andress, Neil McCarthy, Judi Bowker, Neil McCarthy, Siân Phillips | United Kingdom United States | |
| Dragonslayer | Matthew Robbins | Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ian McDiarmid, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, Peter Eyre, Albert Salmi | United Kingdom | |
| Excalibur | John Boorman | Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, Helen Mirren, Nicol Williamson, Nigel Terry, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi | United Kingdom | |
| Heavy Metal | Gerald Potterton | John Candy, Eugene Levy, John Vernon, Richard Romanus | Canada | Animated film |
| Time Bandits | Terry Gilliam | John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, Ian Holm, Kenny Baker, Jim Broadbent, Derrick O'Connor, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan, David Rappaport, David Warner | United Kingdom | |
| Maria, Mirabela | Ion Popescu-Gopo | Gilda Manolescu, Medeea Marinescu, Ingrid Celia | Romania, Soviet Union | Live-action/animated film |
| 1982 |||||
| Along Unknown Paths (ru) | Mikhail Yuzovsky | Tatyana Peltzer, Aleksandr Filippenko, Tatyana Aksyuta | Soviet Union | |
| Ator the Fighting Eagle | Joe D'Amato | Miles O'Keeffe, Sabrina Siani, Ritza Brown | Italy | |
| Sorceress | Jack Hill | Leigh Harris, Lynette Harris, Roberto Harris, David Millbern, Bruno Rey | United States Mexico | |
| The Beastmaster | Don Coscarelli | Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, Rip Torn, John Amos, Rod Loomis, Ralph Strait, Billy Jayne, Joshua Milrad | United States | |
| Conan the Barbarian | John Milius | Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman, Mako, Franco Columbu, Sven-Ole Thorsen | United States | |
| The Dark Crystal | Jim Henson | Frank Oz, Kathryn Mullen, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, Mike Quinn | United States United Kingdom | A Dark fantasy film |
| The Flight of Dragons | Jules Bass, | John Ritter, James Earl Jones, Arthur Rankin Jr., Victor Buono, Harry Morgan, Larry Storch, Ed Peck, Nellie Bellflower, | United States | Television movie, Animated film |
| Forbidden Zone | Richard Elfman | Hervé Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell | United States | Absurdists comedy |
| The Last Unicorn | Jules Bass | Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, Alan Arkin, Arthur Rankin Jr., Tammy Grimes, Robert Klein, Christopher Lee, Nellie Bellflower, Keenan Wynn | United States | Animated film |
| The Secret of NIMH | Don Bluth | Hermione Baddeley, John Carradine, Tom Hatten, Dom DeLuise, Wil Wheaton, Elizabeth Hartman, Derek Jacobi, Arthur Malet, Shannen Doherty, Paul Shenar, Peter Strauss | United States | Animated film |
| The Sword and the Sorcerer | Albert Pyun | Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch | United States | |
| 1983 |||||
| Conquest | Lucio Fulci | Jorge Rivero, Andrea Occhipinti, Sabrina Siani | Italy Mexico Spain | |
| Deathstalker | James Sbardellati | Richard Hill, Barbi Benton, Richard Brooker | United States | |
| Fire and Ice | Ralph Bakshi | Randy Norton, Cynthea Leake | United States | Animated film |
| Hercules | Luigi Cozzi | Lou Ferrigno, Sybil Danning, Brad Harris, Rossana Podesta, Mirella D'Angelo, William Berger, Eva Robin's | Italy, United States |
| Krull | Peter Yates | Ken Marshall, Liam Neeson, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones, Robbie Coltrane, Bernard Bresslaw | United States United Kingdom | |
| Legend of the Eight Samurai | Kinji Fukasaku | Hiroko Yakushimaru, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba | Japan | |
| The Man Who Wasn't There | Bruce Malmuth | Steve Guttenberg, Jeffrey Tambor, Lisa Langlois | United States | |
| Mary Poppins, Goodbye | Leonid Kvinikhidze | Natalya Andrejchenko, Albert Filozov, Lembit Ulfsak | Soviet Union | |
| Sorcerers | Konstantin Bromberg | Aleksandra Yakovleva, Aleksandr Abdulov, Yekaterina Vasilyeva, Valentin Gaft | Soviet Union | |
| Thor the Conqueror | Tonino Ricci, Anthony Richmond | Conrad Nichols, Christopher Holm, Maria Romano | Italy | |
| Zu Warriors | Tsui Hark | Yuen Biao | Hong Kong | |
| 1984 |||||
| All of Me | Carl Reiner | Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Tennant, Richard Libertini | United States | |
| Ator 2 - L'invincibile Orion | Joe D'Amato | Miles O'Keeffe, Lisa Foster, Charles Borromel | Italy | |
| The Company of Wolves | Neil Jordan | Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Stephen Rea | United Kingdom | |
| Conan the Destroyer | Richard Fleischer | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain | United States | |
| A Fairy Tale of Wanderings | Alexander Mitta | Andrei Mironov, Tatiana Aksyuta | Soviet Union | |
| Formula of Love | Mark Zakharov | Nodar Mgaloblishvili, Aleksandr Abdulov, Semyon Farada | Soviet Union | |
| Ghostbusters | Ivan Reitman | Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis | United States | Horror, Science fiction |
| Gremlins | Joe Dante | Hoyt Axton, Keye Luke, Don Steele, Scott Brady, Zach Galligan | United States | |
| Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | Hayao Miyazaki | | Japan | Anime film |
| The NeverEnding Story | Wolfgang Petersen | Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach | West Germany United Kingdom | |
| Ronia, the Robber's Daughter | Tage Danielsson | Hanna Zetterberg, Börje Ahlstedt, Lena Nyman | Sweden Norway | |
| Sheena | John Guillermin | Tanya Roberts, Ted Wass, Donovan Scott | United States | |
| Splash | Ron Howard | Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy | United States | |
| Supergirl | Jeannot Szwarc | Faye Dunaway, Helen Slater, Hart Bochner, Peter O'Toole | United Kingdom | |
| Sword of the Valiant | Stephen Weeks | Miles O'Keeffe, Sean Connery, Cyrielle Clair, Trevor Howard, Peter Cushing, John Rhys-Davies | United Kingdom | |
| The Tale of Tsar Saltan | Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Lev Milchin | | Soviet Union | Animated |
| The Warrior and the Sorceress | John C. Broderick | David Carradine, Luke Askew, Maria Socas | United States | |
| 1985 |||||
| The Adventures of Hercules | Luigi Cozzi | Lou Ferrigno, Milly Carlucci, Sonia Viviani, William Berger, Venantino Venantini, Eva Robin's | Italy, United States | |
| After the Rain, on Thursday (ru) | Mikhail Yuzovsky | Oleg Tabakov, Tatyana Peltzer, Semyon Farada, Georgi Millyar | Soviet Union | |
| Asterix Versus Caesar | Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi | | France | Animated |
| Barbarian Queen | Héctor Olivera | Lana Clarkson, Victor Bo, Dawn Dunlap | United States Argentina | |
| The Black Cauldron | Ted Berman, Richard Rich | Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Nigel Hawthorne, Freddie Jones, Arthur Malet, Phil Fondacaro, John Hurt | United States | Animated film |
| The Dungeonmaster | Various | Jeffrey Byron, Richard Moll, Leslie Wing | United States | |
| Ladyhawke | Richard Donner | Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer | United States | |
| Legend | Ridley Scott | Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry | United States | |
| The Peanut Butter Solution | Michael Rubbo | Mathew Mackay, Siluck Saysanasy, Alison Podbrey | Canada | |
| The Purple Rose of Cairo | Woody Allen | Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello | United States | Romantic comedy portal fantasy |
| Return to Oz | Walter Murch | Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Fairuza Balk | United States | |
| Red Sonja | Richard Fleischer | Brigitte Nielsen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman | United States | |
| Santa Claus: The Movie | Jeannot Szwarc | David Huddleston, John Lithgow, Dudley Moore | United States United Kingdom | |
| Travels of Mr. Kleks | Krzysztof Gradowski | Piotr Fronczewski, Sławomir Wronka | Poland | |
| Weird Science | John Hughes | Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock | United States | Comedy |
| Wizards of the Lost Kingdom | Héctor Olivera | Bo Svenson, Vidal Peterson | United States | |
| 1986 |||||
| Asterix in Britain | Pino Van Lamsweerde | | France | Animated |
| Big Trouble in Little China | John Carpenter | Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong | United States | |
| Castle in the Sky | Hayao Miyazaki | | Japan | Anime film |
| Dream Lovers | Tony Au | Chow Yun-fat, Cher Yeung | Hong Kong | |
| The Golden Child | Michael Ritchie | Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, Charlotte Lewis | United States | |
| Highlander | Russell Mulcahy | Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown | United Kingdom United States | |
| Labyrinth | Jim Henson | David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud | United Kingdom United States | |
| Momo | Johannes Schaaf | Radost Bokel, Mario Adorf, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sylvester Groth | Germany Italy | |
| The Worst Witch | Robert Young | Fairuza Balk, Diana Rigg, Charlotte Rae, Tim Curry | United Kingdom United States | Television movie |
| 1987 |||||
| The Barbarians | Ruggero Deodato | David Paul, Peter Paul, Richard Lynch | Italy United States | |
| A Chinese Ghost Story | Ching Siu Tung | Leslie Cheung, Wong Tsu Hsien, Wu Ma | Hong Kong | |
| Date with an Angel | Tom McLoughlin | Michael E. Knight, Phoebe Cates, Emmanuelle Béart | United States | Fantasy comedy |
| Gor | Fritz Kiersch | Jack Palance, | United States | |
| Harry and the Hendersons | William Dear | John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet | United States | Fantasy comedy |
| Kingsize | Juliusz Machulski | Jacek Chmielnik, Katarzyna Figura, Jerzy Stuhr, Jan Machulski | Poland | |
| Mannequin | Michael Gottlieb | Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Estelle Getty, James Spader | United States | Fantasy comedy |
| Masters of the Universe | Gary Goddard | Dolph Lundgren, Courteney Cox, Frank Langella, Meg Foster | United States | |
| Mio in the Land of Faraway | Vladimir Grammatikov | Christopher Lee, Christian Bale, Nicholas Pickard, Timothy Bottoms, Susannah York | Sweden Soviet Union Norway | |
| The Princess Bride | Rob Reiner | Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon | United States | |
| Rouge | Stanley Kwan | Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Man Chi Leung | Hong Kong | |
| Snow White | Michael Berz | Diana Rigg, Billy Barty, Sarah Patterson | United States | Fairy tale adaption |
| Wicked City | Yoshiaki Kawajiri | | Japan | |
| Wings of Desire | Wim Wenders | Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Peter Falk | West Germany France | |
| The Witches of Eastwick | George Miller | Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer | United States | Fantasy comedy |
| 1988 |||||
| The Adventures of Baron Munchausen | Terry Gilliam | John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle | United Kingdom West Germany | |
| Alice | Jan Švankmajer | Kristina Kohoutova | Czechoslovakia Switzerland | |
| Beetlejuice | Tim Burton | Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder | United States | Horror |
| Big | Penny Marshall | Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Robert Loggia | United States | |
| The Land Before Time | Don Bluth | Gabriel Damon, Candace Huston, Judith Barsi, Will Ryan, Pat Hingle | United States | Prehistoric Animated film |
| My Neighbor Totoro | Hayao Miyazaki | | Japan | Anime film |
| One, Two - Don't Let It Trouble You! (ru) | Mikhail Yuzovsky | Oleg Tabakov, Nikolai Karachentsov, Semyon Farada | Soviet Union | Steampunk fantasy |
| To Kill a Dragon | Mark Zakharov | Aleksandr Abdulov, Oleg Yankovsky, Yevgeny Leonov | Soviet Union | |
| Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller | Michael Rubbo | | Canada | |
| Tryumph of Mr. Kleks | Krzysztof Gradowski | Piotr Fronczewski, Sławomir Wronka | Poland | |
| Vice Versa | Brian Gilbert | Judge Reinhold, Fred Savage, Corinne Bohrer | United States | |
| Willow | Ron Howard | Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis | United States | |
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Robert Zemeckis | Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy | United States | Comedy Noir Animation Live-action animated film Mystery Neo-noir Fantasy |
| 1989 |||||
| Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure | Stephen Herek | Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin | United States | |
| Dream a Little Dream | Marc Rocco | Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Meredith Salenger, Jason Robards Jr. | United States | |
| Teen Witch | Dorian Walker | Robyn Lively, Dan Gauthier, Joshua Miller | United States | |
| Maria Mirabela în Tranzistoria [ro] | Ion Popescu-Gopo | Elena Zaițeva, Jorj Voicu, Mihai Bisericanu, Horațiu Mălăele | Romania, Soviet Union | Live-action/animated film |
| Ghostbusters II | Ivan Reitman | Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis | United States | |
| Kiki's Delivery Service | Hayao Miyazaki | | Japan | Anime film |
| Little Monsters | Richard Alan Greenberg | Fred Savage, Howie Mandel, Rick Ducommun | United States | |
| Erik the Viking | Terry Jones | Tim Robbins, Terry Jones, Mickey Rooney, Eartha Kitt | United Kingdom United States | |
| Asterix and the Big Fight | Philippe Grimond | | France | Animated |
| Prancer | John Hancock | Rebecca Harrell, Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, John Joseph Duda | United States | Fantasy drama |